Dryer Usage Tips

Though the sheen (and excitement) of your new dryer may fade once you've been using it for a while, there are plenty of things you can do to keep your machine running like new for years to come. Plus, if you work these easy steps and safety tips into your laundry routine, you may even see the savings on your utility bill.

Before You Use It:

Make sure an installed dryer is properly vented to the outdoors. For the best drying, vents should be as short and straight as possible. Long or convoluted vents can slow down the drying process or mean that items won't dry properly.

The safest duct material to use is a smooth rigid metal duct. A rigid duct is less likely to sag, and a smooth one doesn't have folds or pleats, so lint can't get trapped in the duct work.

Once It's Installed:

Be conscious of what types of clothing you dry together. It is important to dry garments of similar weight. Mixing dissimilar items will mean lighter garments are over-dried and heavier items, like towels and jeans, can come out damp.

Don't overload the dryer. Doing so will lengthen your drying time and result in more wrinkling and tangling of clothing.

Clean the lint filter after every load and check the lint chamber and ducting for accumulated lint. Periodically removing the collected lint will minimize the danger of fire.

Sporadically check the vent opening on the outside of your house to make sure that it's free of debris like leaves or bird's nests. A blocked vent will hinder the drying process.

When drying large items like sheets and comforters, you'll want to frequently stop and readjust the load to keep it from balling up and for more even drying results. Dryers with drums that reverse-tumble throughout the cycle do this automatically.

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